There's a movement to oust them from polite fiction society. But whether or not you're a fan, Grammar-me says correct usage is important. I've met some semicolon-haters; I've met adoring believers.Some writers use them sparingly; some overuse them.A disappointing number of published writers use them incorrectly. (This is why editors earn their keep). *wink*Today, my plan is to:

'Ello, loves.I've been having such fun with the Spelunking Speculative Fiction series. Meeting and chatting with these authors has been...all sorts of things. Enlightening. Hilarious. Challenging. Today, I'm introducing you to someone new to me. Jackie Castle, freelance writer, novelist, illustrator, educator. This woman has such imagination. And here's what she's got to say about engaging your readers.

How does a series...and maybe a
spin-off series come to be? When you world-build, you invest time, energy,
dreams. You come up with nations, political systems, cultures - maybe
languages, races, religions.

Nah, we're not watching them wrestle. We're talking about the difference. For many writers, low fantasy - fantasy that takes place in our world, whatever time period - is fun. You can focus on the plot twists and character, toss in paranormal details or magic, without having to come up with something other than Newton's laws. The world was designed for you, and only the story - maybe a few other races of beings - are yours to create. But in high fantasy, the world is yours. And so are the rules.

LOOK at that. It released YESTERDAY, loves. If you stay until the end, underneath Mary's bio is an easy way to win a signed copy to carry around with you.(What? People do that.)Mary Weber is with us today to talk about writing (and not writing) romance.

Last week, I talked about verbs which masquerade as other parts of speech. For the sake of being thorough and keeping things together for our new readers, I'm bringing Perry Participle back for another round. If you read this last year, you're free to decide whether the refresher will benefit you or no.